a 


INGLESIDE  SEMINARY 
IN  PICTURE 
AND  STORY 


■By 

CLAIRF,  PEARSON  ALTER 


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Board  of  National  Missions 
OF  THE  Presbyterian  Chi  rch  in  the  It  S.  A. 
156  Fifth  Avenue.  New  York,  N.  Y. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2016 


https://archive.org/details/inglesideseminarOOalte 


INGLESIDE  SEMINARY  IN  PICTURE 
AND  STORY 

Claire  Pearson  Alter 


This  evening,  in  spite  of  the  ceaseless  downpour,  I 
spent  with  a friend  of  long  ago.  “No  mulling  over 
the  ‘dear  old  days’  the  evening  you  are  with  me !’’ 
she  had  said  in  her  letter.  “I  want  to  know  what  you  have 
been  doing  all  these  years.”  So,  as  a sort  of  tangible 
evidence  of  this,  I had  carried  along  an  envelope  of  “snap- 
shots,” some  of  which  told  their  own  story. 

Settled  cozily  before  the  hearthstone  which  the  persis- 
tent rain  made  all  the  more  attractive  this  cool  evening, 
Carolyn  began  to  look  over  the  pictures : 

“O,  are  your  meals  served  on  the  cafeteria  plan?”  she 


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asked,  as  she  picked  up  a picture  showing  a number  of  girls 
in  caps  and  aprons  standing  Ijehind  a well-filled  counter. 
Then  I told  her  how  much  pleasure  our  class  in  Domestic 
Science  took  in  their  work  and  the  many  ])ractical  things 
they  did  during  the  term,  and  how  one  day  there  had  ap- 
peared at  each  teacher's  place  at  lunch  a neat  card,  announc- 
ing “Inglenook  Cafeteria  open  at  noon  Thursday.”  (Ingle- 
nook  is  the  name  of  the  little  four-room  apartment  we  con- 
trived from  two  large  basement  rooms  and  in  which  our 
Domestic  Science  girls  do  the  practical  part  of  their  work.) 
For  several  Thursdays  the  faculty’s  lunch  was  served  in 
this  way  and  one  day  we  got  this  picture,  showing  some  of 
the  good  things  to  eat,  as  well  as  the  girls  who  had  cooked 
and  served  them. 

"And  this — do  you  have  weddings  in  your  school,  too?” 

”N(.),”  I replied,  “that  is  just  a little  group  that  was  the 


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center  of  our  sewing  exhibit  one  year.  The  girls  ‘made  up’ 
a little  [day  that  was  a wedding  rehearsal  in  part  and  a 
showing  of  the  bride's  trousseau  to  her  maids.  Each  girl 
wore  a frock  she  had  made  for  herself  for  the  summer; 
in  this  group  the  little  bride's  dress  is  a white  organdie ; 
her  maids  had  voiles  in  pale  colors,  their  Woolworth  hats 
draped  with  tarlatan  to  match;  the  bouquet  holder  was 
made  rjf  lace  paper  doilies  frona  the  same  well-known 
store ; the  bride's  veil  is  also  tarlatan.” 

'■(  )ur  sewing  room  is  one  of  the  busiest  2)laces  and  not 
(jnly  sewing  hut  aiJi)reciation  of  i)roj)er  color  and  lines  for 
the  different  individuals  is  being  taught,  and  that  all  takes 
time  and  tact.  Several  hundred  dresses  are  made  each  year, 
not  to  menticMi  other  garments  of  various  kinds.  Our 
,Seni(jrs  make  their  Commencement  dresses.  Even  the  mem- 
bers of  the  class  comi)leting  the  grammar  grades  make  the 


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dresses  they  wear  for  their  promotion  exercises.  It  really 
does  mean  so  much  to  a girl  to  he  able  to  plan  and  make 
her  own  clothing.” 

“But  let  me  tell  you  of  this  girl,”  and  I pointecl  out  one 
in  a recent  senior  class,  “not  for  anything  remarkable  that 
she  has  done  hut  just  because  she  is  the  only  jjerson  from 
the  village  school  in  a certain  community  that  has  completed 
a high  school  course  during  the  past  thirty  years.  The  man 
who  labored  there  as  teacher  all  this  time  died  about  a 
year  ago  and  this  is  the  only  one  of  all  his  pupils  that  he 
had  the  jdeasure  of  seeing  finish  even  a high  school  course. 
But  another  of  his  pupils  is  to  graduate  next  year.” 

“Why  such  tipparent  lack  of  ambition  for  an  education?” 
she  asked  me. 

“\\T11,”  was  m)'  answer,  “when  the  school  term  in  many 
cases  is  hut  five,  sometimes  only  four,  and  in  some  jdaces 
only  three  months  in  a year,  and  hoys  and  girls  are  well 
in  the  ‘teens’  l)efore  they  can  even  think  of  ‘going  ofif 
to  boarding  school’  it  takes  courage  and  deternnnation 


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along  with  some  money.  And  the  money  is  mighty  slow  in 
coming  sometimes.  One  man  sold  2,000  pounds  of  tobacco 
and  had  $13.00  after  he  had  paid  the  e.xpenses  incurred  in 
raising  that  particular  crop.  Another  cleared  exactly  $1.00 
from  his  tobacco — and  you  have  no  idea  the  hack-breaking 
work  it  is  to  raise  tobacco.  Perhaps  before  long  more  peo- 
ple will  come  to  the  conclusioji  the  man  reached  who  said 
he  had  ‘decided  to  quit  foolin’  with  the  stuff  and  raise  some- 
thin' that'd  do  somebody  some  good.’ 

“And  sj)eaking  of  determination,  please  look  at  this  pic- 
ture and  try  to  imagine  her  sweet  soprano  as  T heard  it  not 
long  ago  when  she  sang  ‘The  Holy  City.’  You  can  more 
easily  imagine  that  than  her  plowing  on  her  little  farm  and 
(knng  the  other  work  that  usually  falls  to  the  farm  woman, 
then  somehow  finding 
time  to  drive  to  the  Sem- 
inary in  her  buggy  to  get 
the  music  lesson  each 
week  for  which  she  is 
hungry. 

‘‘This  tall,  dignified- 
looking  girl  is  another  ex- 
ample of  determination. 

She  had  been  a year  in 
training  as  a nurse  when 
the  State  ])assed  a law 
that  all  candidates  for 
the  R.X.  degree  must 
have  had  at  least  two 
years  in  high  school 
work.  Jane’s  superin- 


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tcnclc'iit  is  interested  in  her  probationers  and  talked  to  me 
about  her  taking  work  here  and  continuing  her  training 
during  the  summer.  She  came  to  us  and  was  able  to  enter 
the  last  year  of  the  grammar  grade.  She  completed  that, 
leading  her  class,  and  has  now  completed  her  first  year  of 
high  school.  Another  }ear  of  high  school  must  be  com- 
])leted  before  she  is  eligible  for  her  coveted  R.  X.,  hut  she 
will  do  it — she’s  that  kind. 

“And  here’s  another 
girl  whose  aim  is  the 
same.  She  was  born  and 
reared  in  Pennsylvania — 
in  the  Pittsburgh  district 
— hut  was  taken  out  of 
school  when  in  the  fifth 
grade.  When  well  in  her 
twenties,  she  determined 
to  become  a nurse  and, 
of  course,  met  the  same 
conditions  as  Jane.  She 
is  meeting  and  conquer- 
ing them,  too.  But  it  is 
too  had  that  .she  is  getting 
this  start  so  late!” 

“When  your  girls  are 
graduated  from  your 
sc1io(j1,”  asked  Carolyn,  “what  do  they  do?” 

"Figures  have  not  always  been  available,  hut  because  of 
a ‘Letter  ^Meeting’  we  had  in  the  Christian  Endeavor  last 
year,  planned  just  .so  that  we  might  hear  from  some  of  the 
Alumnae,  I can  tell  you  now  that  thirty-nine  of  the  fifty- 

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eight  who  have  been  graduated  since  we  came  to  Ingleside 
have  been  teaching  nearly  every  year  since  graduation,  and 
are  going  to  school  in  the  summer.  Five  have  married ; 
two  are  in  business ; two  in  training  for  nurses ; four  have 
been  in  college  and  several  others  plan  to  go  when  a bit 
better  prepared  financially.  Six  out  of  this  year's  class  of 
nine  plan  to  teach. 

“But  I must  tell  you  of  something  we  did  this  winter : 
we  really  surprised  ourselves,  for  it  all  had  to  be  done  out- 
side of  regular  school  hours  and,  you  must  remember,  our 
resources  are  very  limited.  The  pastor  of  the  little  church 
our  students  attend  on  the  second  and  fourth  Sundays 
asked  that  each  class  in  the  Seminary  make  a contribution 
to  a drive  to  clear  off  the  church  debt.  It  looked  absolutely 
impossible  for  us  to  help,  but  we  set  our  thinking  caps  in 
place. 

“As  a result  a class  in  the  grammar  grade  decided  to 
make  cookies  and  candy  and  sell  to  those  who  would  buy. 
'I'he  second  year  high  school  class  gave  them  a splendid 
opportunity  to  do  this  by  jnitting  on  a play  as  their  way  of 
earning  money.  The  school  does  not  pay  admission  to  these 
entertainments,  but  there  was  a fair  crowd  from  the  village 
and  the  grammar  girls  had  all  too  soon  .sold  out  ‘their 
best  things  to  eat.’  'I'he  play  was  a real  success,  too. 

"The  other  grammar  grade  class  had  also  jilanned  an 
entertainment,  but  as  that  looked  like  ‘holding  up’  the 
])ublic  too  often  they  gave  a promissory  note  for  $15.00 
to  be  paid  three  months  later,  'fhis  they  did  with  a de- 
lightful little  entertainment  and  had  some  money  over 
which  they  gave  to  another  school  cause  that  was  on  foot 
just  then. 


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“The  first  year  high  school  girls  did  some  extra  work 
that  was  sorely  needed  just  then — and  that  there  had 
seemed  no  way  of  doing — and  thus  earned  their  money. 
Juniors  and  Seniors  went  together  and  got  up  a bazaar, 
partly  of  small  articles  they  made,  partly  of  things  of  their 
own  which  they  donated.  As  this  was  not  many  weeks  be- 
fore Christmas,  it  was  a real  help  to  many  of  us  for  our 
smaller  Christmas  remembrances.  \\’e  turned  in  as  our 
coutrihution  to  the  drive  $124. 

“And  here’s  a little  girl  I want  you  to  notice  particu- 
larly. She  has  led  her  class  each  of  the  three  years  she  has 
been  at  Ingleside  with  averages  for  her  first  three  years  in 
high  school  of  respectively  93,  95  and  97.  Earnest  to  an 
unusual  degree,  she  has  the  keenest  sense  of  humor  I be- 
lieve I have  ever  seen  in  a girl  of  her  age.  Yet  just  in  her 

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simple  school  girl  fash- 
ion she's  ever  giving  ns 
food  for  thought.  For 
instance,  she  said  one  day 
this  winter : ‘As  children 
grow  to  manhood  and 
womanhood  they  always 
bring  about  a change  in 
the  hcane  either  for  more 
happiness  or  trouble.’ 

Maybe  you  have  heard 
the  idea  expressed  in  just 
that  way — I hadn’t. 

"This  group  of  four- 
teen tells  a story  of  much 
work  and  achievement  in 
contest  work  along  the 
lines  marked  out  by  the  National  W.  C.  T.  U.  Every  girl 
in  the  group  has  won  a silver  medal ; eight  of  them  gold 
ones : and  two  of  the  eight  have  won  grand  gold  ones.  We 
hope  to  contest  some  time  for  the  diamond  medal,  hut  it’s 
rather  a ‘forlorn  ho])e,’  as,  of  course,  the  girls  go  far  and 
near  after  finishing  school,  and  it’s  hard  to  get  them  to- 
gether for  the  necessary  drill. 

‘T  want  to  tell  you.  too.  about  the  work  many  of  our 
girl  do  during  the  summer  in  the  Sunday  School  \''acation 
]>ands  which  are  organized  in  our  boarding  schools  by 
the  Sunday  School  IMis.sionaries.  Ingleside  has  three  suc- 
cessive years  won  the  silver  loving  cup  given  by  Catawba 
Synod  to  the  Vacation  Bible  School  Band,  ‘accomplish- 
ing the  largest  results  in  proportion  to  its  enrollment.’  This 

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The  mothers  of  these  girls  were  at  otie  time  enrolled 
at  Ingleside  Seminar’^ 


cu])  is  presented  by  the  Department  of  Sunday  School 
]\Iissions.  And  I just  do  wish  you  could  have  been  there 
to  hear  the  applause  at  the  Commencement  exercises  this 
}ear  when  it  was  announced  that  Ingleside  had  for  the 
third  time  won  the  cup  and  so.  according  to  the  plan,  had 
it  now  ‘for  keeps.’  But  I've  talked  the  whole  evening  and 
the  ‘half  has  not  been  told.'  and  since  we  re  leaving  town 
‘soon  in  the  mo'nin’.  we  must  run  along  home." 

‘‘Yes.  we  must,  but  next  year  I'll  expect  to  hear  about 
the  Daily  \ acation  Bible  Schools  your  girls  have  had  this 
summer." 

“I'd  like  to  broadcast  it.  And  now,  ‘Till  we  meet  again, 
goodnight  and  goodbye." 

And  another  day  was  ended. 

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